Question of the Day

Whose side of the story do you believe?

Story TOpics

People with Asian community organizations from Chicago hold signs to protest after Sunday’s confrontation where David Dao, 69, of Elizabethtown, Ky., was removed from a United Airlines airplane by Chicago airport police at O’Hare International Airport, during rally near United’s ... more >

The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance expressed outrage on Wednesday following the aftermath of the violent, forced removal of a Vietnamese doctor from a United Airlines domestic flight.

“It was a needless act of brutality yet again on a person of color,” Johanna Puno Hester, national president of the APALA, said in a statement. “Incidents like these are deeply upsetting. It could have easily been resolved by peaceful means. No one deserves to be treated that way!”

On Sunday, Dr. David Dao of Kentucky was violently pulled from his seat on a United Airlines flight out of Chicago and dragged through the aisle after the airline had selected him to be bumped from the flight because of overbooking.

Horrified passengers captured the altercation on video and posted it on the internet where it quickly went viral. A failure by United CEO Oscar Munoz to adequately respond to the incident drew further condemnation on social media around the globe and prompted the Senate to demand an investigation into the matter.

Gregory Cendana, APALA executive director, added, “This incident is another example in the larger narrative on how people of color are devalued, dehumanized, and criminalized in our society. We demand accountability for the officer’s actions and will continue to put people over profit — and in this case, the profit of the airline.”